AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES – LAGUNA SECA RACE REPORT

Monday, May 14, 2012 - 18:15

Lotus-AJR had a character-building weekend in Monterey, California, when they dealt with a series of technical issues which kept their Evora GT from the front.

An engine issue meant the team had to switch to a 2011-spec powerplant and a lack of practice for driver Bill Sweedler meant the car had to start at the back of the grid. His team-mate Townsend Bell took the start, and he was catching his class rivals when the gearbox started to misbehave on Lap 22. After pitting for repairs it was Swedler’s turn, but he too was dogged by a half-shift issue.

ALMS will take its yearly break for teams to participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The next event will be the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix, July 6-7 at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut.

Bill Sweedler: "It was a tough weekend all round. We are really pleased with how far the car has come since Long Beach, but we need some development and laps under our belt before we go to Lime Rock in July. I was able to turn some solid laps in the race when we went back out. It was nice to feel the progress that has been made by the Lotus AJR team since we ran at Long Beach three weeks ago. The team is going to continue on the development path during the Le Mans break, do some testing and keep moving forward."